Hey, hero!
by creatoriginsane
Summary: Contrary to popular belief, a lot of people still want to be normal.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, hero!**

A/N: So I've been a fan of this for a while now and have wondered about the possibility of someone having a potentially damming, but quite inconvenient, Quirk.

Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks, all.

* * *

Contrary to popular belief, a lot of people still want to be normal.

* * *

Yoko Shimomura is a normal.

No, not just "normal." She is a "normal."

In actuality, there is no specific term for those without special abilities, or "Quirks" as it was popularized several decades ago, except for the term "Quirkless" which, to her and perhaps several other people, meant that these special abilities are the norm, the status quo, the perspective by which to see the world.

Now, that doesn't make those "special abilities" so special, does it?

Yoko Shimomura is a "normal" precisely because of her special ability to maintain a normal, non-chaotic, Quirk-free life.

And it is all because of her Quirk.

Now, that sounds quite strange, doesn't it? How can one live a Quirk-free life by using their own Quirk?

"Normalcy." She talks to herself in the mirror.

Yes. That's the name she gave it.

"Normalcy." She repeats, reassuring herself that her Quirk will ensure this fact of her life.

It's six o'clock in the morning.

"So be it."

She grabs her coat, a thick beanie, and her usual shades. It's already autumn, but the sun still finds ways to make Tokyo's residents feel like it's still the summer.

"Normalcy." She mutters to herself.

She takes the bus to work, takes the train if she feels like it, sometimes she hails a taxi if she's feeling lazy and knows she's got the money.

It's all very normal.

But some days aren't.

And very few days are extremely not.

Take this day, for example.

"Damn you all! I'm going to take this city for myself!" Someone screams.

Fire blasts out of a building. People run out into the streets. Panic. Mayhem.

She sighs, leaning onto the side of a seat.

"Normalcy."

She should have taken the train today.

A booming sound rips through the air. Cheers and gasps. The bus driver changes the radio station. It's a news channel now, and it's a live broadcast.

"A rampaging monster is wreaking havoc in our streets! News reports claim it's headed for the National Bank! Right now, it's running through-"

The broadcast is cut off.

The bus is overturned.

Everybody is screaming.

And suddenly Yoko Shimomura comes face to face with a fire-breathing, fur-clad, humanoid entity.

 _Normalcy._

The monster disperses into thin air and out comes a teenager, likely no older than sixteen.

"Shimomura-sensei?" The girl is astounded, frightened, and downright confused.

The rest of the crowd in the bus is confused as well, with several of its members murmuring "Where's the monster?", "What happened?" among other phrases.

But thankfully, no one has said something along the lines of "She's a hero!"

Because Yoko Shimomura is not one.

Yoko Shimomura is just a normal person.

She falls into the background after the entire ordeal. News reporters begin flocking to witnesses, victims, and onlookers, but she slides past all of them. She doesn't have time for this. She's going to be late for work. Her class is waiting.

And, despite the steadily rising number of people who possess a Quirk, there are still schools who couldn't care less that a child could perhaps be the next savior of the world.

Contrary to popular belief, a lot of people still want to be normal.

But it's not as if they have a choice but to be.

"Good morning, Shimomura-sensei!"

Yoko Shimomura is a teacher, a middle school Literature teacher and a homeroom teacher. Her class of twenty-three is composed of several students with Quirks, although their Quirks varying from the generally useful, such as Momoko's "Sponge-Aid", to the overall fun, such as Kodaka's ability to change his hair color.

"Today, we're going to discuss the story of Momotaro."

Momoko says she's going to _try_ applying to a hero academy next year.

Kodaka says he's going to apply to a vocational high school.

Momoko doesn't want to be a hero, not really, but her parents said she ought to try.

Kodaka wanted to become a hero, but the circumstances just aren't in his favor. Try as he may, what could color-changing hair do? His parents gave him the talk early, so as his homeroom teacher, Yoko doesn't really have that much of a problem.

She has more pressing things to worry about, such as discovering that the monster from earlier was actually a student from this very school. But thankfully, it's not one of her students.

It was only the Student Council President.

"Sensei." One of her students came up to her after class. "Natsuki-senpai wanted me to give this to you."

It was a folded piece of paper. A letter.

"Rooftop. Lunchtime."

 _Did she mistake her love letter for something else?_

Yoko thinks of a shocked Natsuki, but is met with a surprisingly calm on when she heads up to the school rooftop at 11:55 a.m.

"Shimomura-sensei," Natsuki spoke. "I'm sure you have some questions about earlier."

"Not really." She lied. "Just one."

Actually, she has a list of at least ten.

"Why?"

And Natsuki's face fell immediately. Like a student who was at a loss for answers during the essay portion of an exam.

 _If this were an essay, it would be worth the whole test._

Second pass and nothing comes out of Natsuki's mouth.

"Look. Your Quirk is a very powerful one, Natsuki," she says calmly, slowly approaching the nervous girl, "and if I were you, I wouldn't parade it like that."

 _Maybe I wouldn't even parade it at all._

"The world is a dangerous place."

 _Am I really going for this lecture right now?_

Natsuki opens her mouth to take in a quick breath. Yoko braces herself for either an apology or a "You don't understand!"

But what comes out of Natsuki's mouth surprises her.

"It's all your fault!"

 _What?_

"I'm sorry, sensei, but..."

 _Why is she crying?_

"Wait. What have I..."

Natsuki begins bawling and she doesn't know what to do. She tries to console her, but the girl bats her hands away.

"I would have met All Might if it wasn't for you!"

 _Ah..._

 _Wait._

She blinks.

 _Eh!?_

"Is that so?" Yoko stutters out.

 _Well. And I thought I went to extreme lengths when I was your age._

"Well. I'm afraid I'd have to call your parents, Natsuki. What you did was dangerous and–"

"No, you won't!" The girl screams, taking several steps backward and crouching downward as if in a pose.

 _To transform?_

But nothing happens.

"Eh?" She jolts back up. "What–why isn't it working?" She jumps into a panicked frenzy.

"Natsuki, calm down!" Yoko calls out.

"You did something to me!" Natsuki accuses her. "And earlier, you–You've got a Quirk!"

"Calm down, Natsuki." She tries to maintain her voice. "Just calm down. You're very emotional right now, and that could affect–"

"No!"

"I didn't do anything to you, Natsuki. Now, if you'd just close your eyes and take deep breaths, you'd be fine."

Natsuki glares at her, narrows amber eyes at the adult.

Yoko thinks it's funny how the girl tries to intimidate her.

"Fine." Natsuki huffs, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths.

Yoko sighs out of relief.

Normalcy. That was the name she had given her Quirk, her Quirk which allows her to live a quiet, undisturbed life. A life that previously had nothing to do with others knowing that she had possessed such a Quirk.

 _Well. Change happens._

She leaves Natsuki on the rooftop.

And immediately regrets it after, because Natsuki transforms back into the anthropomorphic, fire-breathing monster she was hours before.

She hears Natsuki roar. In a panic, Yoko rushes to the edge, only to see Natsuki darting past the school gates.

 _What have I done?_

She mumbles something about calling Natsuki's parents, and perhaps, if she had the opportunity, a licensed hero as well.

* * *

A/N: What the hell is Yoko's Quirk, anyway? It's hard to describe because I haven't really seen it much in media, but I hope I can make do with it!

Also, I didn't plan on making a multi-chap, but here I am.

Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, hero!**

A/N: I didn't make it in time for Christmas. Happy New Year, everyone.

* * *

 _Contrary to popular belief, a lot of people still want to be normal._

* * *

Yoko Shimomura is a teacher.

And like all teachers, she takes great pleasure in each and every break afforded to her.

But not today.

"A student has gone missing!"

"Where is she?"

"The Student Council President!"

"Who was she last seen with?"

"Where was she headed?"

"Furui-sensei!"

"Silence!"

What was supposed to be a 55-minute lunch break has turned into a 45-minute "working lunch" regarding the sudden disappearance of Harunoyama Academy's Student Council President.

"Do you have anything to say, Shimomura-sensei?" The principal, Ichiro Furui, spoke out.

Yoko's stomach drops. She loses her appetite.

"I am partly to blame for her departure." She admits.

More like, entirely to blame for it.

"It seems I have offended her."

"And what exactly did you tell her?"

"To calm down."

"And?"

"That I would call her parents for unauthorized use of her Quirk."

"I see."

The meeting ends quickly, with more than twenty minutes left in the lunch break. It was decided that the matter be taken to the higher-ups, so the faculty clears out of the meeting room in silence and hushed murmurs.

 _The higher-ups? Please._

Ichiro sighs. He stares at the phone on his desk before dialing a number he feels bad for still remembering by heart.

"Hello? Nezu-senpai."

He feels strange, calling U.A.'s principal for something so trivial, something they could have handled themselves. But Natsuki, despite her intellect and leadership skills, is still a young and hormonal teenager.

* * *

" _When I grow up, I'm going to be All Might's sidekick!"_ He remembers her brandish one time. _"I'm going to be the best sidekick the world has ever seen!"_

And truth be told, he and the rest of the staff believed it. Why, with her powerful Quirk, she could even become an excellent pro-hero.

" _Why be All Might's sidekick when you can be his partner?"_ was what he told her that time.

* * *

 _Well, Furui-sensei, you sure know how to rile them up._

If Natsuki wanted more than anything to be recognized by All Might, and if, for the sake of the school and his dear faculty, her tantrum must be stopped immediately, then he has no choice.

"Is All Might available for a quick demo?"

 _She wants to meet All Might, fine._

Meanwhile, in the faculty room, Yoko stares at the half-eaten bento in front of her.

"It wasn't your fault, Yoko. It was just... a teenager being a teenager." She recalls Ichiro's words from a few moments ago. "You did as per the protocols. You did nothing wrong."

She wasn't trained to assess the situation from a certain perspective. She wasn't trained to see Natsuki as a possible threat that must be detained should it come to a certain point. She was trained to see Natsuki as a smart and responsible child who wouldn't suddenly transform into a fire-breathing entity just to get the attention of a childhood crush.

* * *

" _It's All Might. What child wouldn't look up to him?"_

Ichiro had laughed off the entire situation.

And the faculty had responded with tired sighs. It wasn't that this was a "normal" incident, but it was a situation that other schools faced. A teenager suddenly goes rampant in an attempt to capture the attention of someone else was typical, especially in this world of Quirks.

"So not even the ever-reliable Natsuki is immune to this." One of the older teachers, Eiji Furudate, spoke bitterly.

"They're just children. Nobody expects them to act like adults." Another faculty member, Mariya Kurosawa, responded.

The meeting room had burst into a discussion of whether or not certain children should be held responsible for the damages caused by their Quirks, or if the responsibility should be placed on the adults in charge.

"Whatever the outcome may be, one person cannot be held completely responsible for it." was Ichiro's concluding statement before they jumped off into discussing what exactly to do with a runaway student.

* * *

 _What do you do with a runaway student?_

Under normal circumstances, they would let the runaway student be. They were just skipping class, after all. But for special cases like this, cases that the school hasn't dealt with before in this generation, things become a little difficult.

"What am I thinking?" Yoko mutters to herself, "The authorities will take care of it."

All she has to do is draft a letter to Natsuki's parents.

That is all she can do.

And so the rest of the afternoon goes by without an issue. The classes go on as usual. The lectures go on as usual. And the students just act as they usually do.

Yoko just feels glad that she isn't teaching any of Natsuki's classes, saves her from the trouble of answering questions and lying to the students' faces.

 _How lucky._

"That's it for today, class. Next session we'll be discussing the worksheets I gave you. Goodbye."

The bell rings. It's four o'clock and there's still no news regarding Natsuki's state or location.

She's starting to feel worried.

"It's going to be all right, Mira."

She overhears a conversation in the faculty room as she's gathering her things.

"Natsuki must be having a bad day, that's all."

"Yes, you know the pressure someone like her feels."

 _Right. Mira wanted to become a pro-hero before she realized her Quirk was meant for something a bit more passive._

Mira Kiyohara had a wonderful Quirk. Yoko doesn't remember what it was called–"Sensation" or something like that–but she does remember how in awe of it she was when she first saw it.

* * *

"In Egypt, their kings are buried in large tombs." Mira had started off her lecture, and gradually the four walls of the classroom became the dry desert of Egypt. On their left was the banks of the Nile River, and on their right, in the distance, was a great pyramid.

"Inside these tombs are a vast amount of treasure and gold." She continued, and the environment changed with her, turning into the inside of a dark pyramid with heaps of gold and precious artifacts appearing all over.

"Don't be afraid to touch them for yourselves." She said.

 _And the gold! The jewels! The pots! Everything was tangible!_

"What a wonderful Quirk." Yoko said to herself, wishing that she had the same.

* * *

Mira Kiyohara was able to conjure life-like illusions better than virtual reality itself. She could reproduce the sensations, the very environment itself, all in the minds of those within the same room as her.

Yoko doesn't know why Mira didn't pursue that kind of career. She thinks Mira would have been a great pro-hero.

She stands up from her seat, having readied her things, and comes face-to-face with Mira herself.

"Kiyohara-sensei." She blurts out, "I'm sorry."

"Oh, Shimomura-sensei." Mira smiles nervously, "Please don't be. I only understand you were trying to contain Natsuki."

" _Contain" seems too harsh a word, isn't it?_

But Yoko brushes it off.

"Yes, well, I..." She stumbles on her words. "I hope she comes back safe."

"Yes." Mira nods. "The pro-heroes are on patrol, after all."

"Right." Yoko agrees, yet she cannot help but feel bothered by all of this.

 _This wasn't what I had in mind today._

She wishes her life would just return to normal.

* * *

 _Normal._

Students "go missing" all the time, only to show up a day or so later. They get sick. They get tired of school. They get riled up in class. They get bothered by relationships.

Yoko understands.

But what she doesn't understand is how Natsuki could suddenly just snap and run off, vowing chaos and mayhem until she meets the number one hero.

Yoko stares at an All Might poster hanging on a convenience store window and almost scowls at it.

She doesn't blame him.

"I wonder if Natsuki had run into you today." She muses aloud. "I hope you got her back home safely if you did."

She doesn't want to think of what would happen if Natsuki had gone on a rampage, destroyed buildings, and screamed for All Might's attention.

She doesn't want to think about that.

But when she's near the counter of the convenience store, when she has a six-pack of beer in her arms, does something incredible happen.

* * *

An explosion rips through the air, loud enough to rattle the shelves and the hanging lights in the store. Outside, fire and rubble fall onto the street, coming from up above.

 _That's strange._

The lights shake. The shelves rattle.

It's starting to feel a little hot.

 _Where is the fire coming from?_

"Everybody, get out!" Someone screams in the distance, "It's going to collapse!"

It takes her a few seconds to realize it.

The building is on fire.

"Where's All Might!"

Natuski is two floors above her.

 _No._

"Everyone, get out!"

Yoko's mind goes on overdrive.

 _What are the chances of this actually happening? How could this–When did she–Natsuki!_

She doesn't know. She's thinking too fast. She's not thinking at all. Instinct and adrenaline tell her to run for it, get out as fast as she can. But something tells her to stay, stand her ground, tell everybody to stay inside, and...

And activate it.

No. She can't. She shouldn't. She won't.

People are already running outside, they're already screaming and shouting.

 _The fire department must be on its way, right? Along with ambulances and the police? Maybe even some pro-heroes? Where the hell are the pro-heroes, anyway? This was a quiet neighborhood, sure, so does that mean fewer heroes patrol this area? Are they on break? Was their shift over?_

"What are the actual chances..." Yoko mutters.

She doesn't know what to do. If she goes outside and shouts, calls Natuski down... If she goes outside, forces Natsuki to...

No, she can't.

Normalcy is what she strives for. Not some epic moment where she saves the day. She doesn't want that kind of trouble.

She hears Natsuki scream in frustration.

Rubble keeps falling. The fire keeps burning. If she doesn't...

 _Goddamn it._

"Natsuki!" She rushes outside. "Natsuki, listen to me!"

And the girl appears, looking vastly different from before. She's looking more like herself, except her entire body is on fire, and her eyes are burning bright embers.

 _Is her Quirk evolving?_

"Shimomura-sensei..." Natsuki mouths slowly.

"No! Stay away!" She roars, fire coming out of her mouth.

"You're putting people in danger!" Yoko screams back. "Come down from there!"

 _How many more cliches am I going to spout?_

"I'm not!"

 _Well, truth be told, no one is screaming for their child or family member yet... But is Natsuki really just doing this to get All Might's attention?_

Yoko doesn't believe what's happening. This is unlike Natsuki. It's almost as if Natsuki is being controlled by someone else.

 _Oh, no. I will not go there._

"Natsuki!" Yoko tries again, now at a loss of how to convince the girl. "All Might is coming!"

 _I should at least try?_

"All Might?" Natsuki stops. "Where is he?"

"He's..." Yoko stops. "He's on his way!" She winces internally at the obvious lies. "He's going to meet you here, so come down!"

Yoko doesn't think about what the people around her are thinking. She doesn't want to. She refuses to.

 _This is already as embarrassing as it is, but if it works..._

She just needs to activate her Quirk, that's all. Activate it and let everything fall into place. Activate it and let things return to normal again. She hasn't tried it on a situation like this, though. She hasn't tried it much at all.

"Normalcy." She whispers to herself, steadying her breathing. "Come down, Natsuki! All Might is on his –"

"Never fear!" A voice comes from above them. "For I am here!"

 _No fucking..._

Natsuki stops.

The crowd cheers.

 _Oh._

"All Might!"

He appears on the rooftop of the building behind her and the crowd, standing tall and proud against the sunset. Yoko could imagine Natsuki swooning at the sight.

Maybe she doesn't have to use her Quirk, after all.

 _Thank goodness._

She doesn't know what would have happened if she did.

* * *

The situation wrapped up quite nicely, albeit a little bit too nicely. After All Might's appearance, Natsuki suddenly reverted back into her normal, human self. The police rushed to the scene, together with the fire department and emergency services, but thankfully no one was harmed. Natsuki's parents arrived shortly after, overwhelmed at what their daughter had done and what they had to pay, but more than that, they were overwhelmed at the sight of All Might.

Natsuki rushed towards All Might with the intentions of every fan, to speak with him and hold his hand. Slinking back into the sidelines, Yoko went back inside the convenience store, whose occupants are acting as if there hadn't been such a big incident moments before.

 _Huh. So it was activated? I didn't know I could do that._

She didn't ask questions and neither did the cashier when she paid for the six-pack.

She just hopes the police don't come inside and interrogate these people, or else they're in for a shock.

She just didn't expect, of all people, All Might to come in.

"Is everyone all–" He chokes, sputters out blood before rushing back outside.

"Wait, All Might!"

The people run after him.

"What happened to you?"

"Where are you going?"

"There is a villain on the loose! I must capture them!" He calls out, flashing his signature smile.

And he sprints away, too fast for anyone to follow him.

 _What happened to me? I thought I had enough time._

Back at the convenience store, Yoko stares at the flecks of blood on the tile, seemingly unnoticed by everyone else. She shakes her head, deciding to ignore it. She pushes back the thought in her head. She finishes the first can of beer before exiting the convenience store.

"Normalcy." She thinks aloud. "What the actual hell are you?"

She heads home, taking the train along with everyone else, gets out of the station and walks the rest of the way home.

 _It's just a few blocks, Yoko. You need the air._

She walks slowly. She isn't in any rush. She's had enough extraordinary things happen in one day already. She's tired. She just wants to get this day over with and start again.

She thinks she's had her fill of unexpected and extraordinary events, but no.

She turns a corner and sees three men cornering a frightened woman.

 _What are the chances!_

Yoko is in no position to fight against them, but maybe if she activated her Quirk...

"Come on, darling, just one kiss."

"One each and we'll be on our way."

She hates people like them the most.

"Hey." She says, just honestly so tired, "Get lost."

"Oh, you've got a friend in the neighborhood!" One of them said.

"Nice! Now we get two kisses!"

Yoko is not in the mood for any of this.

Well, it's not like she encounters thugs and hoodlums every day, does she? Might as well make the most of this horrific day and end it with a bang.

"Hey." She calls out. "Want some beer?"

"Oh, now we're talking! This one knows what we like!"

She takes three cans out of the plastic bag.

 _Normalcy._

She doesn't know what will happen.

"Here."

They take one each, do a little toast, and drink at the same time.

 _Normalcy._

And they all drop down.

Yoko's eyes widen.

 _What are the actual chances..._

The woman's in shock, but comes to her senses, and flees.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" The woman calls out.

"Normalcy." Yoko mutters, cautiously opening one of the two remaining cans of beer. This was supposed to be her stash for the week. "I'd better call you magic, then."

She suddenly thinks of putting up a career as a magician, wonders about the true extent of her Quirk, but decides to flush it all down the next day.

"One day of heroics is enough." She tells herself in the mirror. "Tomorrow, we're going back to normal."

That night, she does her usual bedtime routine for especially stressful days. She takes a long bath, burns lavender incense, drinks two cups of chamomile tea while channel-surfing, washes her face with extra care, and wears a moisturizing sheet mask while checking her e-mails. Everything is normal.

What she doesn't expect, however, is an e-mail sent to her–and only to her–by the prestigious U.A. High School.

She wants to throw something against the wall, but decides to drink the last of her beer instead.

She has to deal with this tomorrow, doesn't she?

* * *

A/N: I'm rushing things, aren't I? Sorry. I'm also buzzed at the moment, having drunk the same amount of beers as Yoko.

Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, hero!**

* * *

A/N: So I went and looked for the possibility that someone had already written a character with Yoko's Quirk. Turns out, either no one has before or I haven't searched hard enough.

Writing her Quirk is hard.

I should actually be asleep right now. I have work in a few hours and I haven't slept since I got home from work. In short, I haven't slept at all.

Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading.

* * *

 _Contrary to popular belief, a lot of people still want to be normal._

* * *

"I'm sorry?"

Yoko feels her stomach drop.

"U.A. has requested some members of our faculty to assist in their investigation." Ichiro replied.

She couldn't believe it.

"And not the police?"

"U.A. employs pro-heroes, so of course, police are involved in one way or another."

She _still_ couldn't believe it.

"I'm sure you and the select members of the faculty would do good at assisting the heroes."

 _Assisting the heroes?_

"There's no getting out of it, is there?"

Yoko sighs. Ichiro stares at his coffee mug.

It's not that this is something new and unexpected, but because it's something Ichiro could have avoided, if the odds were in his favor. After yesterday's Natsuki fiasco, Harunoyama Academy owes All Might, and subsequently U.A., a favor.

 _What kind of world do they live in, where a bystander owes the hero a favor?_

Yoko nods instead, knowing that Ichiro and Nezu's relationship is that of a mentor-mentee. Ichiro owes a lot to Nezu for being patient with him, having attended the same school together in their youth.

 _Or maybe Nezu is just exploiting him._

Yoko wonders why Ichiro, like one of the many faculty members of Harunoyama, chose to pursue a more passive career than to work in the hero industry. "All-seeing Ichiro" doesn't sound too bad of a name, right? After all, that's all there is to his Quirk, to be able to see with the eyes of those he has "tagged" for a day.

Which begs the question of why he chooses to stay within the premises of the school rather than patrol the streets in that expensive car of his.

Ichiro could have become number one.

Number one sidekick, that is.

With a Quirk like that, he's bound to be fought over. What hero wouldn't want an insider within the villain headquarters without the villains actually knowing? But Ichiro wasn't top of his class. He wasn't even part of the heroics program to begin with. He was part of the general academic program before he dropped out and moved to another school, three provinces away.

He didn't want the peer pressure. He just wanted to relax.

Yoko shares the same sentiment.

"You understand, Shimomura-sensei." He says after a heavy beat, "We're just doing all we can to ensure life goes on normally."

She scoffs.

 _Alas, what is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly._

"See on Saturday, Furui-sensei."

"See you then."

And the week passes by with no problem. Sure, Natsuki couldn't look her in the eye whenever they pass by each other in the hallways and Mira looks more distraught than ever at the sudden aloofness of her student. The rest of the student body fared quite well, with no riots or anything similar to what had happened days before.

Everything is _normal_.

Yoko clocks out at 5:30, gets home at 7:00, eats dinner, watches TV, checks messages, reviews lesson plans, and takes a shower all before she sleeps at 10:30.

Friday, however, was quite apart from the routine.

 _Oh, Fridays._

* * *

On Fridays, Yoko has a lot more papers to check and a lot more plans to finish. It's not that she has a lot to do during the weekends, it's just... It's the weekend. Who does work on weekends?

 _Oh, right. A lot of people._

Including pro-heroes who are supposed to be on 24/7.

But on this particular Friday, specifically this Friday, she meets the number-one hero.

And, of course, she just doesn't know it's him.

"Excuse me." She hates asking questions like these. "Do you have change?"

On this particular afternoon, Yoko Shimomura meets Toshinori Yagi by a vending machine.

"I think..." He says, fishing his pockets for coins, "Sorry, I don't."

And then Yoko remembers her Quirk.

"Oh, never mind. I'll just try again."

She inserts the crumpled bill into the machine.

Ding!

A can rolls down.

"It worked!" She exclaimed in surprise, as if she were a middle schooler.

She catches herself.

 _How embarrassing._

"Lucky you." He laughed.

"Yeah." She nods, muttering to herself, "Lucky me."

She wonders what would have happened if she hit the vending machine upon activation of her Quirk.

She doesn't wonder what would happen if she touched him.

No, actually, this Friday turned out to be pretty normal.

* * *

And then Saturday comes.

She arrives at U.A.'s gates twenty minutes too early and blames her anxiety for it.

"Where is everyone?" She asks herself as the types the same question in their chat group.

 _"On my way!"_ Mira replies, adding a "running" sticker after her message.

 _"Just woke up."_ Ichiro replies.

Several teachers, she included, sent angry-looking stickers after his message.

 _"No, no."_ He replies back. _"I live just a few blocks away."_

No one replies.

 _"I'm on my way down now."_

Yoko pockets her phone and looks at the grand campus. It's no wonder that it's one of the best, if not the best, hero academies in Japan. She opens the brochure Ichiro gave her the other day and browses the courses and facilities of the academy.

All first-class.

All expensive-looking.

All "super"-sized.

And even the dorms look better than some high-end apartments.

"I wonder what it would take to get in..." she wonders aloud.

Harunoyama Academy wasn't the best in anything, it was just an average school with some not-so-average students and faculty. A lot of their faculty graduated from similarly average schools, but some of them went to hero academies.

Eiji Furudate and Mariya Kurosawa being prime examples.

Eiji graduated from Shinketsu.

Mariya graduated from Seiai.

Which begs the question why they left the industry they were, quite literally, made for.

Eiji's Quirk, Absorcanon, allows him to absorb anything that comes into contact with his body and shoot it out his mouth. And then he took a bullet to the gut and shot it out his mouth without considering the physics of the entire situation. The bullet shot through an apartment window and broke an old woman's ceiling fan, which fell on the old woman and nearly gave her a concussion.

Mariya's Quirk, Quicktime, allows her to move at light-speed for five-second bursts. And then she miscalculated the time and distance, and failed to save a young teen from falling off a cliff during a field trip. The boy, thankfully alive, only loses control of his legs and his volleyball scholarship.

Absorcanon and Five-second-girl were forgotten as quickly as they had appeared.

Eiji was a hero at 27, now a mathematics teacher at 38. Mariya was a hero at 23, now a science teacher at 29.

Things like these happen sometimes.

And it only made sense why they were part of the faculty invited by U.A. to assist in their investigation. They were, after all, affiliated with the hero industry once before.

 _Speaking of._

"Furudate-sensei! Kurosawa-sensei!" Yoko waves to them.

 _Oh, they came together! Are they dating? What a pair they would make._

Yoko feels scandalized by her thoughts, but truth be told, Eiji and Mariya do make a nice-looking couple. Eiji was still well-built and his jawline was still sharp and Mariya still had the bright and cheerful look she had back when she was a hero.

Yoko stops herself from imagining what an even better pair they would make if they were still heroes.

"Please drop the honorific, Yoko!" Mariya says quickly, rushing towards her. "I'm only a year older than you!"

"Why haven't you gone in yet?" Eiji asked, looking past the gate.

"I'd get lost in there." She replies, "Furui-sensei never mentioned where we would meet them."

"Oh, he just said to go on in." Mariya replied, showing Ichiro's reply on their group. "He'll meet us there."

"Where exactly is 'there'?" Eiji asked, scratching the back of his head. "This is the biggest campus I've ever seen."

"Guests from Harunoyama! Please, come in!"

Eiji remembers Hizashi Yamada's voice before he remembers his face.

"Present Mic?" He thinks aloud.

He sees Hizashi's unforgettable hero costume and feels like it's a blast from the past.

"Present Mic!" He calls over, "It's nice to see you again!"

Oh, but Hizashi doesn't recall meeting this man before, likely because he hasn't seen Absorcanon out of his hero costume back in the day.

"Come on in!" Hizashi replies instead, "Our faculty will be delighted to meet you!"

Mariya and Yoko look to each other.

 _They don't mean the entire faculty, right?_

 _It's just for some investigation, right?_

They understood each other's apprehensions.

Meanwhile, Eiji hurries over to Hizashi. "Absorcanon." He reintroduces himself. "Do you... remember?"

Hizashi blinks behind his glasses, maintaining a stiff smile.

 _Absorcanon..._

 _Absorcanon?_

 _Ah, Absorcanon!_

"You disappeared from the face of the earth!" Hizashi swings an arm to pat Eiji's shoulder.

 _You look... quiet._

"Yeah, well..." Eiji chuckles, "I'm back. Just not in the hero business."

Hizashi just nods.

 _Ah, well, maybe you'd change your mind after this._

"Come on, Mariya! Yoko-sensei!" Eiji calls to them.

Yoko smiles in spite of herself, nudges Mariya at the same time.

 _Mariya, huh?_

Mariya rolls her eyes and types into the chat, _"Hurry, everyone. Eiji just met one of his colleagues."_

Yoko glances at Mariya's screen. "Just plain Eiji?" She asks.

Mariya walks past Yoko, a shy blush coming up her cheeks.

Yoko opens her phone, sees that Mariya has unsent her message from earlier and types in an edited one, this time with an "Eiji-sensei."

" _We'll tell you where we are."_ Yoko adds to the chat before following after Mariya.

* * *

When Yoko, Eiji, and Mariya enter the meeting room, Ichiro is already there, apparently enjoying himself, chatting with his former senpai and sipping tea from a dainty cup.

Aside from Nezu and Ichiro, several members of U.A.'s faculty were there as well.

Mariya inches closer to Eiji almost instinctively and Yoko notices how she almost reaches for his hand. She smiles at the sight.

"Oh, you've finally arrived!" Ichiro greets them. "Mira-sensei and Kaito-sensei will be joining us shortly!" He gestures to the coffeemaker on the side table, "Please, help yourselves!"

The three find it strange that Ichiro is so comfortable with all this.

 _Almost as if..._

 _It was planned._

 _And he was in on it._

They looked at each other.

"Go on, Furudate-sensei." Yoko says quickly, not knowing what to do, "You've worked with them before, right?"

"Yeah, but even Present Mic hardly remembered me!"

"Well..." Yoko trailed off.

"Of, come on you two." Mariya pulled the two of them. "You're acting like children–"

The doors swung open.

Yoko meets Toshinori Yagi for the second time.

"I have arrived!"

Or rather, she meets All Might for the second time.

"All Might..." Mariya is stunned at the sight of the number-one hero.

Eiji and Yoko are stunned as well.

He was just... massive. And he radiated this kind of energy...

"Ah, All Might!" Nezu greeted. "These are some members of the faculty of Harunoyama Academy!"

"It is nice to meet all of you!"

 _How could his voice be booming all the time?_

 _This has to be a ruse..._

 _No one is actually that bright and brilliant, right?_

Eiji catches himself before he stares too long. "The pleasure is all ours, All Might! I am Absorcanon!" He says his former hero name before he could stop himself.

Yoko, Mariya, and Ichiro snicker quietly at his pronouncement.

"Ah! Oh, no..." Eiji begins laughing nervously.

"Ah, yes! Absorcanon!" Toshinori quickly grabs Eiji's hand and begins shaking it vigorously.

Yoko and Mariya both swear they saw the 38-year-old man _blush_ after that.

"Now, take your seats, everyone." Ichiro says. "We've got a big meeting ahead of us."

 _Big meeting? What exactly are you hiding from us, Furui-sensei?_

* * *

The bell at U.A. High School rings. It's 9am on a Saturday, and certain members of U.A. and Harunoyama's faculties are in a large meeting room, sitting across each other as if a soiree.

"Now, then." Nezu speaks, having stood at the head of the table. "Ichiro, if you will."

Ichiro, who was at the opposite end, nodded.

His usual carefree demeanor suddenly turned serious, "Over the past few months, there have been reports of people, particularly students, whose Quirks have gone, for lack of a better term, haywire. These cases also involve sudden shifts in behavior and unpredictable changes in emotional stability."

Yoko doesn't like where this is going.

"Which is why," Nezu continued, "Ichiro and I decided on testing this joint program."

She _really_ doesn't like where this is going.

"But first," Ichiro broke the increasingly serious atmosphere with an ice-breaker, "Introduce yourselves."

 _Oh, how reminiscent of grade school._

"And your Quirk, if you've got one."

Yoko's eyes widen.

 _You couldn't possibly–_

That's it. She definitely doesn't like where this is going.

"Kaito." She whispers to the man beside her, who looks just as nervous as he is, "We don't really have to do this, do we?"

"I don't know, Yoko-san." The younger male, a home economics teacher named Kaito Kitamura, whispered back. "My Quirk can't be explained that easily."

No. His Quirk can actually be explained quite easily. He calls it Matter-state because his Quirk essentially allows him to change an inanimate object's material state. In short, he can puree potatoes, but not completely liquify them, and solidify steam, but not turn it into ice.

 _Actually, that is pretty hard to explain._

"But you can just show it off if you'd like. We're all equals here." Nezu added to Ichiro's instruction.

 _These two!_

Yoko swears they're up to no good.

 _Can't he see how nervous and bewildered we are? Weren't we just supposed to assist the heroes? What the hell are they talking about? "We're all equals here"?_

She spends the time panicking internally, just wishing that this was just a bad dream and that the real, actual meeting was something far from this.

And it's her turn.

"Hi." She stands up, suddenly feeling like her shy grade school self, "Yoko Shimomura."

 _And my Quirk is..._

She can't bring herself to say it, so she lies.

No, she can't lie.

That would just bring even more problems.

Yoko doesn't want to have any more problems.

"And my Quirk is..."

 _What is my Quirk, anyway?_

"Normalcy."

She blinks.

Everyone blinks.

"Can you explain further?" One of the teachers from U.A. asks.

 _Oh, no._

* * *

A/N: Cue JJBA's "To be continued."

Fun fact: Yoko's character was slightly (actually pretty much) influenced by Yoshikage Kira. Yeah. So, everyone, go and watch _JoJo's Bizarre Adventure_ , all four parts that have already aired, and the fifth part that is currently airing.

I tried so hard not to have Stand abilities transferred into BnHA's universe. Maybe I failed. I don't know, I haven't read the manga yet.

Also, I know Nezu's background is pretty much NOT what I have here, but just let me have this. I'd like to assume he wasn't just an animal that was experimented on because of his Quirk.

Anyway, guess who asked?

And how the hell can Yoko explain it without having to show it?

I love my Harunoyama babies, okay? I hope you do, too. Until next time!


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, hero!**

* * *

A/N: So... Nothing happens in this chapter, sorry. But I've finally gotten Yoko's Quirk down, more or less. Happy February!

Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading.

* * *

 _Contrary to popular belief, a lot of people still want to be normal._

* * *

Some people are born with extraordinary powers.

"Normalcy."

If Yoko had a choice, she would be born extra ordinary.

Yes, there's a space in between.

If she were, she wouldn't be here in this room, being stared down by several pro-heroes.

This was not how she imagined her Saturday morning to be.

"Can you explain further?"

In her younger days, Yoko loved to explain things. She loved to illustrate the various possibilities of a given situation, whether be it in fiction or real life. But Yoko had never dared to explain her Quirk in its entirety, only because she doesn't quite understand it. No one does.

So she simply does as she had done during her interview when she first applied for this job.

"It manipulates the probabilities of certain things happening within a set range."

Yes. A simple, neutral answer. She doesn't say anything else. Yoko doesn't want a repeat of what happened sixteen years ago.

She definitely doesn't want a repeat of that.

"Thank you, Shimomura-sensei."

That was her cue to sit back down and breathe a sigh of relief.

"Hello. My name is Kaito Kitamura and my Quirk is Matter-state." The younger male beside her spoke with an air of practiced ease, and then proceeded to demonstrate his Quirk by pouring out the contents of his water bottle. He then placed his hand on the spilled liquid.

 _Kaito would be lying if he said he didn't practice this._

He proceeded to pick up the now slime-like substance and further explained, "It allows me to change the physical characteristics of objects I touch."

"That's an interesting ability."

"He's like a magician."

 _Right. Kaito wanted to be a magician when he was younger._

"Thank you, Kitamura-sensei."

"Show off." Yoko teased him when he sat back down.

"I can't help myself, Yoko-san." He said sheepishly. "It's not every day we get to interact with pro-heroes."

Right.

Yoko wishes this to be the only day.

"Now then," Nezu cleared his throat, "shall we continue?"

 _Yes, please. By all means._

"As some of you may already know, Ichiro Furui and I were colleagues." He continued, pacing about the table.

"Classmates more than anything, _senpai_." Ichiro commented casually.

"U.A. is known for being a school of heroes. Harunoyama, to be frank, is not known for anything."

 _True._

And nobody in the faculty argued against that point.

"Which is precisely why I had Ichiro handpick the best of his faculty for this."

 _No._

"These cases of students going wild, Quirks rampaging in the streets, they aren't isolated cases." That U.A. teacher from before spoke.

 _Now, come to think of it, they haven't introduced themselves yet. Who cares? They're pro-heroes, anyway._

"We have reason to believe they were instigated, coerced, or provoked to do so. Though the motive of whoever's behind this is unclear, it may be related to the rumors of a villain alliance."

 _Oh, stop right there._

Yoko couldn't believe what she was hearing. Why are they talking to them as if this was a mission briefing like in the movies? Do they think that they would all just agree to this? That mere teacher would just accept the fact that they've been fooled into thinking this was just a simple meeting when it was in fact a briefing in itself?

She slaps herself mentally. She might be overthinking things. She might be jumping to conclusions. This might just be a precautionary thing, a warning if anything. Nothing big, nothing grand.

"...partnership with Harunoyama Academy will be a trial to see whether the possibility of a vigilante license may be taken into consideration."

"Of course, Nezu-senpai!" Ichiro's uncharacteristically excited tone broke Yoko's train of thought.

 _Partnership with Harunoyama? Vigilante license?_

"If there is nothing else..."

"A moment, Furui-sensei." Eiji stood up. "You told us this was just an investigation. You didn't tell us anything about being vigilantes."

"He didn't, and don't consider yourselves as vigilantes." Nezu answered for him. "You're more like glorified secretaries."

"Who do more than just file papers and write up reports." Eiji muttered under his breath.

 _Oh, he had the gall to answer back?_

"You can consider this as overtime." Ichiro chided.

Yoko is familiar with this, as they all are, Ichiro apparently made plans without consulting even one of them. Eccentric principal he may be, this is a clear violation of their contract.

"We have enough to do already."

However strong-willed and outspoken Eiji may be, he knows his place and knows when to keep his concerns to himself.

Well, most of the time.

But now he was more concerned for his faculty than himself, having experienced the life of an on-call hero, he can only assume how difficult it would be for the rest of them to adjust to such a life. And given that Yoko wanted nothing to do with being a hero...

 _Why did she have such an aversion to heroes and heroics, anyway?_

"If you're going to do nothing but complain, leave."

Yoko could feel Eiji's spirit fall at the sudden, deadpan comment. It came from the same person who asked her to explain her Quirk.

"If these people don't want to participate, then let them be. Better to do it ourselves than to have others get in the way."

 _Well, that was blunt. Terribly blunt._

Yoko can't help but agree with him. Why have adults who have little to no experience in dealing with villains and crimes help the heroes who actually do? Even Eiji, former pro-hero Absorcanon, didn't want any part of this.

"Sit down, Furudate-sensei." Ichiro spoke, calmly and cooly.

Eiji sat down as quickly as he had stood up. They all knew Ichiro was at his most dangerous when he was all calm and cool.

"I apologize for his sudden outburst." He continued. "It seems this was a lot to take in for one Saturday morning." He laughed, as he has a tendency to do so when he's nervous or irritated.

"I shall further discuss this with my faculty, but rest assured this partnership is good to go."

No one from Harunoyama dared to speak against him.

"Thank you, Harunoyama faculty."

The goodbyes were brief, awkward and tense until the very end. The heavy atmosphere didn't leave, not until they were outside U.A.'s gates where, almost collectively, they exhaled deeply as Ichiro walked ahead of them.

"He's mad, isn't he?" Yoko whispered to Mira.

"Furious. I've never seen him act that way before."

"None of us have, actually." Mariya commented before turning to Eiji. "If you had only controlled that temper of yours!"

"I didn't mean–" He was flushed in embarrassment. "Think about the children!"

"Think about the children indeed." Mariya repeated his word bitterly. "That villain is targeting them."

"And you'll risk your life for that?"

"Well, wouldn't you?"

Yoko, Mira, and Kaito stood awkwardly as the two older faculty members continued arguing.

 _Ah, a lovers' quarrel._

"Well?" Ichiro called over to them, putting a stop to Eiji and Mariya's argument. "We've got much to do to prepare you all for next week."

"What?" They asked collectively.

"You wouldn't want to strut into U.A. wearing your normal clothes, do you? Let's go."

The three of them didn't understand what Ichiro was talking about, but Eiji and Mariya know it too well.

"He's not talking about hero costumes, is he?" Kaito asked.

"No." Mariya answered.

"At least, not yet." Eiji added.

The three younger faculty members looked at each other in equal feelings of excitement, apprehension, and surprise.

"Let's go." Yoko huffed, quickly walking past the two beside her, and past the couple in front of her.

It's a Saturday.

* * *

And on Saturdays, Yoko doesn't usually go to malls. She doesn't go outside at all. She rather prefers to stay at home, tend the garden, get some cleaning done, watch TV or read a book, laze around and get some much-needed silence.

But they aren't in a mall. They're in a small alley.

Yoko doesn't like dark alleys.

 _Calm down, Yoko. Breathe._

Particularly because they remind her of that day.

"Are you all right, Shimomura-sensei?" Mira was the first to notice her sudden apprehension.

"Oh. Mira." Yoko was breathing shallowly. "Nothing. Dark alleys just make me nervous."

"I know!" She replied a bit too enthusiastically. "And with the things that have been going on..."

"Hello! Ayaka-san!" Ichiro knocked at a wooden door. "It's me!"

"Where are we, Furui-sensei?" Kaito asked him, looking nervously at the worn, sketchy appearance of the door.

"At the headquarters of the finest tailor there is."

Mariya and Eiji looked at each other, a sudden fear gripping at them both. Yoko could almost make out Mariya mouthing a very solid, "No."

"Ayaka-san? It's Ichiro." He kept knocking.

"Are we getting new uniforms?" And Kaito kept asking. "It hasn't even been six months and–"

"I've brought Absorcanon and Five-second-girl with me."

The two former pro-heroes stiffened, along with the rest of them.

"Ayaka-san..." He sounded like he was about to give up.

Of course, they all knew it was just a ruse. But the locks on the other side of the door, all five of them, were hurriedly removed. A middle-aged woman appeared before them, wearing a long sundress and three tape measures about her neck, a pair of scissors on one hand, and a very interesting utility belt around her waist.

She eyed all of them carefully, especially Ichiro's almost manic grin.

"Took you long enough." She said. "Come on."

 _Took him long enough? To do what?_

* * *

Ayaka Lewis, from what Yoko remembers from her brief, lukewarm introduction, is a half-Japanese, half-English designer living in this shabby-looking, two-story apartment in one of the back alleys. Her reasoning was because the rent was cheap and thus enabling her to spend more on the materials she uses to do her work.

Ayaka, like most people, has no Quirk.

But her work speaks for itself. She makes hero costumes after all.

"Hero costumes?" Kaito stammered, cheeks flushed a shy shade of red.

"Yes. I don't need to hand you over my portfolio, do I?" She speaks as she eyes a piece of fabric on her desk.

"Not at all, Ayaka-san." Ichiro replied for him. "Now, shall we get on with business?"

"Yellow for you." She said curtly, eyes drifting from Mira to the fabric swatch. "Green. No, Purple. Maybe... Orange?"

"What is she doing, Furui-sensei?" Mira whispered, suddenly feeling embarrassed at Ayaka's critical gaze.

"She's matching colors to your personality." Ichiro explained. "It's a... talent. She says it will help in the design."

"But shouldn't the design come first?" Mira muttered.

"Not in this shop." Ayaka said curtly. "Purple it is, then."

Mira gets a deep purple. Kaito gets grey. Eiji gets a pale, almost translucent blue. Mariya gets her favorite color, maroon. And Yoko gets a bright, bright red. Ichiro already has his.

And they find out what his color is in the most unexpected way.

"You've all got your colors, now the rest is up to you." Ayaka had said before Ichiro removed his jacket and his shirt.

"Ta-da!" He exclaimed, striking a pose.

He was wearing a black skin-tight suit with pink lines extending from his chest to past his shoulders.

"It's a childhood dream come true!" Ichiro laughed. "Designs are due Tuesday to give Ayaka-san enough time to create them."

 _Tuesday? You want us to have a design by Tuesday!_

"The color is already half the job." Ayaka chided. "Now get going, I have a rush order to finish."

It's not like they haven't dreamed of having a costume before, right?

* * *

" _Lady Lucky!"_

Twenty years ago, Yoko had wanted nothing more in the world.

" _It's Lady Luck, Yoko."_ was what her older brother, Yoshino, said.

Twenty years ago, Yoko would use red and yellow crayons to draw Lady Lucky. Lady Lucky would, like all heroes, use her abilities for good, protect the weak, and all that. She would become her town's protector. She would be a hero. Lady Lucky is a hero.

Yoko is not Lady Lucky.

"It's Lady Luck." Yoko whispers to herself as she sits down on her couch, having gone through an awful Saturday morning and early afternoon.

" _And she gives out luck."_ were her brother's words to her.

"She isn't just lucky." Yoko still remembers his words clearly.

Yoko thinks it's purely coincidental, not lucky, that the designer Ayaka tells her to design the costume in the color red. Besides, Lady Lucky's costume was a deep crimson, not a bright firetruck red.

But never did Yoko think she would be given another chance to live out her childhood dream.

It makes her sick.

Lady Lucky has been forgotten, left behind in her family home in Hokkaido. Lady Lucky is not in Tokyo. Lady Lucky is not here.

Yoko wishes that what transpired earlier today was just a far-fetched dream.

* * *

And then Monday comes quick as lightning. The day proceeds as usual. But Ichiro calls them in for a meeting after dismissal.

"I think it's best not to postpone this any longer." He said once they've all sat down. "Our partnership with U.A. cannot be retracted."

 _Of course._

"As such, I will be briefing you on how this will work." He passes to them folders with their names. "You will all be working overtime, a nine-hour schedule, on Saturdays. Weekdays may vary depending on your partner-hero."

"Partner-hero?" Kaito doesn't know how to take in such a sudden announcement.

None of them do, really.

"Yes. It's indicated in your file. I hope you all know to keep this confidential–"

"Eraserhead!" Kaito, being the first and the fastest one who opened his folder, exclaimed in both fear and delight. He's been a fan of this near-incognito hero since two years ago.

 _Him?_

Yoko's eyes widened at the photo of the man in Kaito's file. It was that deadpan, borderline intimidating teacher from the meeting.

"There's no point in hiding it anymore, huh?" Eiji smiled at Kaito's childlike excitement. "Looks like I'll be taking marksmanship lessons from Snipe."

 _How are you just taking this all in, Eiji? Last Saturday, you were totally against this!_

Yoko bites her lips together in an attempt to calm herself.

"Oh! I'll finally meet Thirteen!" Mariya exclaimed.

Ichiro's stoic expression fell at the sight of his faculty. He can't help but be excited as well. This was, after all, part of his several years' long plan. But they don't know that, only he and Nezu do.

"What about you, Mira-san?" Kaito asked the woman whose head was bowed as if in deep regret.

"Midnight." Mira replied shakily. She doesn't know how she's going to work with such an outspoken and confident hero when she herself was the exact opposite. She chose to be a teacher than to go into the hero industry for the exact reason. She's a timid person, someone who would rather not confront problems directly.

Yoko considers the almost too convenient matchups to be part of Ichiro's elaborate plan, whatever it may be. But she also wonders, if the matchups were to train them to handle their Quirk better, wouldn't Eraserhead be a better partner for her since she doesn't know the full extent of her Quirk? What if it was actually a dangerous, life-threatening–

"What about yours, Yoko-san?"

 _Don't look at me like that, Kaito._

"Oh, I..." She hasn't opened her folder yet.

And she wishes that she hadn't.

"It's All Might." She said simply, face blank and utterly shocked into silence.

"Wow, All Might?" Kaito cheered for her, "That's amazing, Yoko-san!"

Their cheers fell deaf to her ears.

She still can't believe it.

 _All Might. The number-one hero. Needs an assistant?_

She would never consider herself a sidekick, but besides that, she could hardly believe the photo attached to her file. Can she still stay no to this? Was opening the folder akin to hitting the final nail on the coffin? Was this even part of Ichiro's plan? Or was it Nezu's? Does that even matter?

"All Might." She repeated, still in a daze.

"Congratulations, everyone." Ichiro clapped for them. "By Wednesday they'll start contacting you."

 _No, please._

Yoko wishes she had used her Quirk before she opened the damn thing.

Perhaps she should have used her Quirk from the very beginning of that meeting last Saturday.

* * *

"Yoko Shimomura." Toshinori reads the name written in the file. He remembers her, though vaguely, as her Quirk was something he hasn't heard of before.

 _Perhaps it was called something else. She said probability, didn't she?_

"She looks competent enough." Shota said over Toshinori's shoulder as he stood to leave. "At least you have someone to do the paperwork for you."

 _Right. He got that kid._

Toshinori appreciated Kaito's enthusiasm while he explained his Quirk, it got him to thinking that Kaito might have become a pro-hero if he had chosen to in his youth. And Eraserhead, though cold and critical he may be of his "apprentice-assistant" appreciated the enthusiasm as well. He had probably already thought of how best to utilize the younger man's Quirk.

It was a pity, really, that such great Quirks aren't being put to good use. Shota knows that, everyone in their faculty knows that.

This partnership, after all, was to prove to show that not all pro-heroes of a generation is all the said generation has to offer. Sometimes, heroes come a bit late.

Just like him.

"How do you think they'll take it, Aizawa?"

"The other two will take it just fine. The others will come crying home."

 _Right, Absorcanon and Five-second-girl._

That thought alone makes him wonder how many more people with great Quirks had relegated themselves away from the pro-hero industry just because they weren't given the proper opportunity to show what exactly they can do.

Perhaps, after this, changes can be made to the entrance exams of the pro-hero academies.

That's more likely to happen than to have a vigilante license approved, anyway.

"Normalcy." He continues reading her file. "Enables the user to manipulate probability."

 _That's too vague. The others had quite an extensive explanation in their files._

He makes a note to ask her that at their first meeting.

* * *

When Yoko leaves for home that day, she passes by the same vending machine by a convenience store two blocks away from her house.

She inserts a bill and presses a button.

Something rattles inside the machine, but nothing comes out.

She presses the button again.

The same thing happens.

She presses the "return bill" button.

And presses it again. And again.

"Hey!" She wasn't in a generous mood today.

She tries shaking the machine, tries hitting it.

 _Yoko, you must so stupid._

And then she uses her Quirk.

The machine rattles, as if coming back to life, and four cans roll down.

If it were any day, Yoko would think she was in luck. Now, this just feels like a consolation.

"It's fixed?" A voice comes from behind her. "It ate my money earlier."

She turns around.

"Is one of these yours?" Yoko feels like she was forced to say that upon seeing the tired-looking man.

"No, they're yours now." He shakes his head. "This must be your lucky day."

"No, please." She doesn't like dealing with too humble, too generous people like him. "We can have two each."

People like him make her feel guilty.

"Are you sure?" He asks.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it. Wouldn't be fair for me to take them all." She rambles as she hands him two cans. "Okay?"

"Well, thank you, Shimomura-san."

 _What?_

Yoko almost drops the cans in her hand and her arm. "How do you know my..."

"Your ID!" He is quick to reply. "Sorry. I saw your ID."

"Oh." She nodded. "Well, you're welcome."

An awkward pause was his answer.

"Toshinori, sorry." He coughed. "Toshinori Yagi."

"Okay, Toshinori-san." Yoko bowed her head. "Happy drinking."

He slapped his forehead when he was sure she was out of sight.

"They wouldn't put our real names on the file, would they?" He muttered to himself, fearing that he might have accidentally broken his pact of keeping his real identity a secret from those who know him only as All Might.

 _At least_ , _she lives in the same neighborhood as I do._

He stares at the two cans. She didn't really have to give them to him, he's bought the same brand at the convenience store, anyway. But he wonders how the vending machine could have been fixed when it had been broken mere minutes ago.

* * *

Later, Yoko receives a message from a foreign number.

" _Good evening, Shimomura-sensei!"_ It read, _"I look forward to ou_ _r_ _first meeting! Please contact this number the earliest you are available. Many thanks!"_

She stared at it curiously.

" _This is All Might, by the way!"_ was a message added a minute later.

She almost throws the phone at the wall in shock.

 _No, this might be a prank. But a prankster wouldn't know my name. Maybe it's one of the students! But how could they know..._

" _Yes. This is Yoko Shimomura."_ She types. _"How may I be..."_

She stops, erases everything.

How does one reply to a text message from the number one hero, anyway?

* * *

Toshinori waits for exactly one hour before giving up on waiting for the reply. He doesn't often text, let alone text a near-complete stranger as All Might.

He could try calling her tomorrow... No, that might give her too much of a shock. Why was he part of this assistant-apprentice-vigilante program? They could have asked other heroes, heroes who didn't have too much on their plate already.

Heroes who had enough time.

If Nezu thought Normalcy could help him, well, they'd just have to wait and see.

But first, Normalcy's user has to respond to his message.

 _That wasn't too forward, was it?_

Toshinori sleeps on it.

* * *

A/N: There we go. Are things finally starting to move? Yes? But only barely. Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, hero!**

A/N: Yes. I know this took too damn long.

* * *

 _Contrary to popular belief, a lot of people still want to be normal._

* * *

Before Eiji Furudate is a teacher, and even before he was a pro-hero, he is a law-abiding citizen.

That Saturday when he and his other co-faculty were called in to supposedly assist in an investigation ruffled his feathers.

Oh, it more than just ruffled his feathers. It rattled his very soul.

"You didn't tell us anything about being vigilantes."

He was wholly against vigilantism. And this idea of a vigilante license, wouldn't that be contradictory to the already established system? And to the very idea of vigilantism itself? He wanted to say so much more, wanted to explain why this was a terrible idea, whether they be former pro-heroes or not, but he was shot down.

He was shot down hard.

So he made it a point to speak about this with Ichiro.

But they were brought to this tailor, and Ichiro promptly introduced him as Absorcanon. And he can't help but be flattered.

 _Monday, definitely._

And it was a good thing that he decided to speak with him.

* * *

"Good morning to you too, Furudate-sensei."

The coffeemaker in Ichiro's office whirrs to life, filling the oddly heavy atmosphere with the rich scent of this morning's brew.

 _Hazelnut._

Eiji squirms in his seat. He knows that Ichiro knew this was coming.

The clock on the wall ticks loudly.

"I'll cut to the chase." He clears his throat.

 _It's only 6:30._

"Why?" He asks, hoping that the one word would be able to carry everything he wanted to ask.

Ichiro smirks, crinkles his eyes, and pours Eiji a cup.

"Coffee?" He offers.

They have enough time.

"You know this is a clear violation of our contract."

Eiji drops the folder on the desk. Ichiro already knows what this is about.

"I had asked for your consent."

"For an investigation, not this."

Ichiro already knows what to say. He's expected this conversation to come sooner or later.

"Nezu-senpai already said it. You're glorified secretaries."

"Who wear costumes?"

"Think of it as protection. Wouldn't want to show the world that Absorcanon's back from the dead, right?"

It's Ichiro's cold and sour kind of humor that keeps Eiji on edge. This man is keen on riling him up, frustrating him to the point of giving up.

But he isn't one to play such games.

"What about the others? Kaito, Mira, Yoko? If anything happened to them-"

"Both UA and I will be put in jeopardy." Ichiro replies stoically.

"The school." Eiji grounds out, thinking that the man before him cares only about the results.

"Believe me, Furudate-sensei, former pro-hero you may be, I've been in the business far longer than you have."

It's not a known fact that he's been doing odd jobs for heroes every now and then, and telling it to Eiji gives Ichiro no advantage. He's not about to expose himself then and there, is he?

"And heroes tend to die when they think they can do it all." He says darkly.

And it reminds Eiji about the countless news stories he's heard about heroes failing, heroes barely recovering from severe injuries, heroes retiring too early, heroes like him.

"Furui-sensei." He nearly chokes on his own words.

Ichiro clears his throat, opening the folder to point at a clause in the document.

"This contract states that you have a trial period of three weeks. If you or your partner should see no benefit to this within that time, then either party is free to render the contract invalid."

"Within that time?" He repeats.

"Yes." Ichiro smiles. "So should your partner-hero see that you're unfit for the job even on your first day..."

Eiji sighs. "You could have just asked like a decent person would."

"Would you, or any of them, have agreed?"

"Kaito would."

An obvious answer.

"You'll see, Furudate-sensei." Ichiro pats him on the shoulder. "You'll be back in no time."

Eiji frowns.

* * *

 _Three weeks._

Yoko has three weeks to prove how wrong this all is.

But first, she had to get through this day.

Wednesday.

Yoko neither hates nor adores Wednesdays. She's totally indifferent to them. But this Wednesday, however, has given her an indescribable feeling of horror and trepidation.

"I am glad to hear you are well, Shimomura-sensei! Wednesday afternoon is a splendid time!" was number one pro-hero's reply to her bland, one-day-late text.

"Thank you. I am available Wednesday afternoon." was what she told him.

"God, Yoko..." She scolded herself in the bathroom, feeling mildly disturbed that she is doing so. She wasn't some sort of moody teenager, she was an adult for goodness' sake! She should be calm, cool, collected, and in control.

 _In control._

She stares at the message for what might be the thirty-seventh time that day.

In retrospect, she could have matched his energy in that conversation. But she wasn't totally against the idea of her, or any of them, being a hero. No, not a hero. A hero's assistant. Some people were born with Quirks meant for greater things, things beyond filing papers and counting staple wires. But they just weren't given the opportunity.

They just weren't lucky enough.

* * *

Luck, Yoko believes, is a strange thing.

When she was born, the doctors noted that her Quirk was extremely rare and that the only other recorded instance of such a Quirk was from seventy years ago.

 _"Your daughter is extremely lucky."_

And she believed that. She believed that she was meant for greater things, for something beyond the mundanity of everyday life. And for twelve years, she waited for an opportunity to come present itself.

But it never did.

And so she made one.

 _"I'm a hero!"_

In a dark alley, at fourteen years old, she made one.

* * *

She thinks she arrives at UA's gates too early, with really nothing prepared. She shifts uncomfortably and wonders if she should just walk in or wait for someone to invite her inside.

"Yoko-san!"

Thank goodness for Kaito.

The younger man waved at her enthusiastically and she greeted him right back. He wore a blue tracksuit and yellow sneakers. She feels a bit overdressed, having not changed out of her teaching uniform.

This was just a meeting, right? They wouldn't have them do an exercise already.

"You're meeting All Might today"?

He began stretching.

"Yeah."

The look of determination on his face reminds her of how hopeful he is, of how hopeful she was before.

"Eraserhead told me to start early." He said in between stretches. "I even went on a jog this morning!"

Yoko hasn't gone jogging in months.

"We're just going to do paperwork, right?" She asked carefully, not wanting to ruin his hopes.

"Oh."

She was wrong.

"I guess it depends on your partner-hero, then." He smiled.

 _Thank goodness._

Kaito doesn't speak anymore because his partner-hero, Eraserhead, appears before them.

"You're too early." He says gruffly, his hair mused and his face looking too tired.

Kaito laughs. "The early bird–"

But Eraserhead is having none of it.

"–catches the worm off-guard."

She and Kaito know that isn't how the saying goes.

"And you–" The pro-hero eyes her critically. "All Might is still on patrol."

"I'll wait." She blurts out, earning a sigh from the pro-hero.

"Fine." He replies tiredly. "Wait in the lounge."

"Let's go." He turns to Kaito. "You better have the stamina if you have the guts to come here this early."

* * *

And Kaito does, or at least that's what she thinks. He's a fit and young man who does some exercise every day. He's done so ever since he got out of elementary.

Sure, he might not have been enrolled into a hero academy, but that doesn't mean he can't still aspire to be one. Sure, he might have been discouraged when some of his classmates transferred to hero academies all throughout high school, but that doesn't mean he should just accept his fate.

Now, he's a few years out of university and his dream came true, or rather, "is coming through."

He's not exactly hero material yet.

"Go." Eraserhead ordered him. "Run."

The hero presented an obstacle course to him.

Oh, he definitely isn't hero material yet.

Yoko watches from a hallway inside the building. She doesn't dare go inside the room, doesn't think she's prepared for this first meeting. If Eraserhead had Kaito run through an obstacle course, one she assumes is a basic one, what would the number one pro-hero have her do?

 _Well, this might give him second thoughts._

Yoko smiles to herself in relief and watches Kaito breeze through the course.

Well, "breeze through" meaning "do the best he can to impress his partner-hero."

And "impressed" is definitely a word to describe it. He fell halfway through, but that was because he wasn't using his Quirk. Not at all.

"You have a Quirk." Eraserhead called out. "Use it."

"Yes, sir!" Kaito smiled, doing a little stretch before running back to the starting line.

And before Yoko could see exactly what Kaito's Quirk allowed him to do, she was greeted by a loud voice coming from the end of the hallway.

"Shimomura-sensei!"

It was All Might.

* * *

It comes in flashes sometimes.

 _"Lady Lucky!"_

It's not that she's traumatized by it. And it's not that she's haunted by the memory either.

 _"Shimomura!"_

In hindsight, perhaps it was a lapse in judgment.

 _"Stop right there!"_

Perhaps she was just too excited.

 _"It's on fire!"_

Perhaps it was just something she didn't have to do. Pro-heroes were already flocking to the scene anyway. She didn't really have to do anything. She just had to wait. She just had to be patient.

 _"No, Yoko!"_

She just had to be patient.

* * *

And it's quite a wonder right now, how the number one pro-hero just strides into the hall, the very embodiment of confidence and pride. Yoko wonders if that was just how he walked, that confidence has been ingrained into his very being. He takes long strides, proud arms moving in sync with his feet. He wears the smile he is so famous for. Not a hair out of place. Not a trace of blood. Only a few beads of sweat. It seems he was in a rush.

"I apologize for being late, Shimomura-sensei."

"No, it's–" Her words seem to be lost in her throat. "It's fine."

She hasn't checked the time, but assumes it's only been a minute or so.

Still.

 _How gracious of him._

When he stops two meters away from her, time is at a standstill.

"Shall we?"

She swears he almost choked on his words. She supposes he must be tired.

"After you." She nods.

* * *

"Use it."

When Kaito heard his partner-hero say that, he didn't expect he'd be flat on his face less than two minutes later.

"Use your Quirk properly." Eraserhead said from above him. "Consider this lesson one."

"Yes, sir!" He saluted.

Eraserhead sighed.

 _This is going to take some time._

Kaito runs, not as fast as what would be ideal, but Shota can feel–and literally hear–his determination. He shouts like a highschooler, loud and hopeful, and moves swiftly through the obstacle course. He uses his Quirk carelessly, uses it every chance he's got. Shota admits it's a useful Quirk, changing hard objects into rubbery ones, changing liquid to solid. Kaito reaches the pool and touches it with his bare hands before running across as if the water was as solid as the ground.

 _It's an incredibly useful Quirk and it'd be a waste if it's not put to good use._

And someone else thinks the same way.

"Yeah. I see him. Eraserhead."

A name is listed on a notebook.

"And there's someone else, but I don't know who he is."

A camera clicks.

"Sure thing, boss."

* * *

"So–"

Having All Might look through your profile was something Yoko never imagined would happen to her.

"What exactly is your Quirk, Shimomura-sensei?"

"It's..."

She remembers the incident at the convenience store.

"Enables the user to manipulate probability." He reads aloud. "Can you explain a bit further?"

She doesn't know how to.

"It's quite difficult..." She mutters, "I don't really..."

"Can you show me a demonstration, then?"

She definitely cannot.

"I'm not sure if I–"

"Shimomura-sensei!" He says a bit too loud, "There's no need to be so nervous! I understand this is all too sudden, but please be at ease."

She notices how he was smiling the entire time.

 _"Be at ease."_

"It's luck, basically." She starts, not knowing if she can really explain it, "I have an abnormal amount of luck."

"Ah." He nods. "Can you demonstrate?"

"I'm not sure if it's a contact type or a field type, so..." She looks around the room for something she can try it on.

"Well.." She can't seem to find anything, "I came across a vending machine this one time and inserted my money in it, but turns out it was broken. I wanted my money back, so I used my Quirk."

He nods.

"It gave me four cans of drinks."

"I see." He says. "So your Quirk fixed it."

"Maybe. I didn't check again."

"Have you ever used it against someone else?"

"If you remember the incident from before, where a Harunoyama student's Quirk went... Well, it changed."

Toshinori remembers it clearly.

"We're still investigating it, but it seems strange that she doesn't seem to be able to manifest those abilities anymore..."

"Earlier that day, I was able to... negate it."

If All Might blinked, she didn't see it.

"In truth, I'm not aware of the extent of my Quirk..."

"Well, Shimomura-sensei, I hope we can discover it."

"Yes." She smiles nervously. "I hope we can."

* * *

"Table for two, please."

A well-dressed man enters a restaurant.

"This way, sir."

Someone is already there.

"Kansei Kairiki."

He tips his head.

"A pleasant evening to you too, Shigaraki-san."

* * *

A/N: Well, things are becoming... whatever they are.


End file.
